Book description
Revelations of abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and the U. S.
detention camp at Guant?namo Bay had repercussions extending beyond
the worldwide media scandal that ensued. The controversy surrounding
photos and descriptions of inhumane treatment of enemy prisoners of
war, or EPWs, from the war on terror marked a watershed momentin the
study of modern warfare and the treatment of prisoners of war. Amid
allegations of human rights violations and war crimes, one question
stands out among the rest: Was the treatment of America's most recent
prisoners of war an isolated event or part of a troubling and complex
issue that is deeply rooted in our nation's military history?Military
expert Robert C. Doyle's The Enemy in Our Hands: America's Treatment
of Prisoners of War from the Revolution to the War on Terror draws
from diverse sources to answer this question. Historical as well as
timely in its content, this work examines America's major wars and
past conflicts -- among them, the American Revolution, the Civil War,
World Wars I and II, and Vietnam -- to provide understanding of the
UnitedStates' treatment of military and civilian prisoners. The Enemy
in Our Hands offers a new perspective of U. S. military history on the
subject of EPWs and suggests that the tactics employed to manage
prisoners of war are unique and disparate from one conflict tothe
next. In addition to other vital information, Doyle provides a
cultural analysis and exploration of U. S. adherence to international
standards of conduct, including the 1929 Geneva Convention in each
war. Although wars are not won or lost on the basis of how EPWs are
treated, the treatment of prisoners is one of the measures by which
history's conquerors are judged.
""The Enemy in Our Hands is an insightful and balanced
work of history, supported by sound scholarship and written in clear,
non-pedantic language. It gives the reader a comprehensive review of
American foreign policy over six decades, giving a guided tour of
America's battles and wars to get to the heart of the treatment of
prisoners by the United States and, collaterally, the treatment of
American prisoners by other countries."--Naval History" --
Robert C. Doyle, professor of history at the Franciscan University
of Steubenville, is the author of A Prisoner's Duty: Great Escapes in
U. S. Military History and Voices from Captivity: Interpreting the
American POW Narrative. He has been a history consultant on multiple
films and documentaries, including Hart's War (2002). He lives in
Steubenville, Ohio.
